HONEY CAN BE USED FOR A VARIETY OF MEDICINAL PURPOSES
You may be skeptical about this because many such
“natural” alternatives to medicine put forth are not backed by any scientific
research. These types of claims are often based primarily on anecdotal
evidence, which can be misleading. (I personally was extremely skeptical
about honey’s medicinal value, as you can read at the bottom of this
article.) However, it turns out there are clear scientific reasons behind
why honey works so well as a treatment for a variety of maladies and there have
been numerous studies showing just how effective it is compared to certain
synthetic pharmaceuticals.
From ancient Greece to current underdeveloped countries in
Africa, honey has been a sought-after healing agent to treat a wide range of
afflictions. Aristotle in 350BC recommended the use of several different types
of honey to treat different ailments. Despite being used throughout recorded
history, only recently have honey’s medicinal effects been studied in a
scientific manner.
One of the most important attributes of raw honey in this
context is that it possesses inherent antibacterial properties. This makes it
particularly useful in treating burns, peptic ulcers, gastroenteritis, and
infections. This latter usefulness in treating infections is particularly
important given the growing resistance to current antibiotics many microbes are
developing.
The properties that make honey such a potent antibacterial
agent are high viscosity; low pH; high osmolarity with low availability of free
water; and its natural ability to produce hydrogen peroxide. It should be
noted that certain types of honey have been shown to work better than others.
For instance, Manuka honey (honey made from bees pollinating the Manuka tree)
has been shown to inhibit the growth of more types of bacteria than many other
types of honey. Since it is known that different types of honey have different
antibacterial capabilities, honey is now being classified with what is known as
its “Inhibine factor,” rating its antimicrobial efficacy.
Honey inhibits bacterial growth by stopping it at the
cellular level. Staphylococcal forms of bacteria are some of the most common
present in wounds. They are also proving to be some of the hardest to kill. Many
types of this bacteria have grown resistant to Methicillin, one of the most
common classes of antibiotics. When these bacteria clump together, they form a
barrier known as a biofilm. Current antibiotics have a very difficult time
penetrating these biofilms. Honey, on the other hand, seems to prevent these
biofilms from forming. In addition, when already present, it has been shown to
still be able to kill up to 85% of the microbes, despite the biofilm. The
reason for this seems to be that it prevents the bacteria from clinging to
human fibronectin. Fibronectin is a protein on the surface of any damaged cell,
such as a burned or ulcerated cell.
Honey also generally has a pH value between 3.2- 4.5,
making it a very acidic agent. Most bacteria need a less acidic environment to
propagate and thrive. For example, E. coli, Salmonella, and Streptococci all
need a pH environment of 4 – 4.5 to flourish. Thus, most types of honey will
inhibit growth of these common pathogens.
In addition to that, honey has a low availability of water
for bacteria to use, being about 84% fructose and glucose. The 15-21% of water
by weight in honey strongly interacts with the sugar molecules and, thus, there
is very little left available for anything else (like bacteria). This free water,
known as the water activity or “aw“, is measured
between 5.6-6.2 for most types of honey. For reference, bacteria can have their
growth completely inhibited with an aw of 9.4-9.9.
Honey also has an enzyme, glucose-oxidase, that produces
hydrogen peroxide, particularly during its ripening stages, with the production
stopping once the pH drops low enough. That being said, fully ripened honey has
a pretty low level of hydrogen peroxide. However, should you dilute the honey
in water, this enzyme’s activity increases by a factor of up to 50,000, making
it a very effective slow release antiseptic. This “slow release” effect is
particularly helpful as it does not damage healthy tissue, which a high dose of
hydrogen peroxide will do (even able to destroy newly formed skin cells, which
is the opposite of helpful). Rather, these slow release, low doses kill
only the germs, while leaving the healthy tissue unharmed. Properly
prepared (see Bonus Facts
below), this makes a honey/water solution ideal for treating eye infections.
In the general case, though, diluting honey and taking
advantage of its hydrogen peroxide production will get rid of many of the other
antibacterial properties; so usually it’s better to use pure honey, rather than
diluted. Specifically, diluting honey will change its pH and it’s aw values.
If you choose to dilute the honey, with say, water, then its pH and free-water
levels will rise to the point that they won’t inhibit microbial growth and
you’ll have to rely more on the increased hydrogen peroxide production to
prevent infection.
Finally, honey also generally has the effect of reducing
pain on burns and open wounds because it prevents air from reaching the wounded
area. Further, it has been shown to reduce scarring due to stimulating
skin regrowth. Another great side-benefit to using honey to treat burns
and cuts is that a bandage used after honey is fully applied to a wounded area
won’t stick to the wound when removed.
Honey works so well as an antimicrobial agent that it has
been beating its synthetic counterparts quite handily in recent scientific
studies. For instance, one study comparing the application of honey over common
burn treatment agent (silver-sulphadiazine) showed the following: of the burn
patients treated with topical honey, 90% of them were microbe-free on the burn
after 7 days. Of the patients treated with silver-sulphadiazine, 84% of them
not only had positive signs of bacteria, but they also all showed persistent
signs of infection. The study concluded that honey made wounds sterile in less
time, reduced the chance of scars and post-burn contractures, and drastically
enhanced healing overall, compared to the silver-sulpha.
Honey’s many healing properties haven’t been lost on one
Dr. Peter Molan who has created a synthetic rubber-like material that
supposedly mimics all the benefits of Manuka honey, but without the main
drawback of the initial stickiness. The $6 billion global market on wound care
treatment, combined with the ever increasing resistance various microbial strains
are developing against common Methicillin based drugs, no doubt has been a
powerful motivator in the development of a synthetic alternative to honey for
pharmaceutical companies to sell. Time and further studies will show whether
Dr. Molan’s new material will be just as effective (and as cheap.)
One place honey is beginning to be used in the
professional medical field is in the cancer ward of Bonn University Children’s
Clinic in Germany. What they use there is something called medihoney,
which is basically just raw honey that is subjected to regular quality control
tests. Cancer patients are particularly vulnerable to infection and other
complications due to many of the treatments for cancer inhibiting the body’s
natural wound healing ability. As Dr. Simon, who works there, stated,
“Normally a skin injury heals in a week, with our children it often takes a
month or more.” What they’ve found is that the use of honey causes “dead
tissue [to be] rejected faster, and the wounds heal more rapidly… What is
more, changing dressings is less painful, since the poultices are easier to
remove without damaging the newly formed layers of skin. Even wounds
which consistently refused to heal for years can, in our experience, be brought
under control with medihoney – and this frequently happens within a few
weeks.” Honey also reduces the foul odor that some wounds can produce.
Bonus Facts:
§
Honey works extremely well as a cough suppressant. In one
study, children with respiratory tract infections were given two teaspoons of
raw honey directly before going to bed. Another group were given
recommended doses of dextromethorphan, which is a common cough
suppressant. The children who were given the honey showed marked signs of
decreased coughing in the night, which matched almost perfectly the decreased
coughing in the children who were given dextromethorphan. So if you don’t
have any cough medicine around, honey seems to be a good natural alternative to
synthesized medicine in this case.
§
In 2007, a group of researches studied the effect of creating an
eye drop solution made with 20% honey and 80% normal artificial tears.
They then tested this against 100% artificial tears on 36 patients, 19 given
the honey solution, the rest given the artificial tears. Each person was
instructed to use the eye drops three times a day. The results indicated
that those who used the honey had improved state of their cornea and
significant overall improvement of their eye health. They also reported
less discomfort over those who used only artificial tears.
§
Honey has also been traditionally used to treat sore throats,
even commonly used by opera singers and voice actors, generally mixed with
lemon and water to create a tonic. Like so many other traditional honey
remedies, this one has only been scientifically researched recently to see if
the anecdotal evidence matched with reality. In one study, done at the
University of Waikato in 2000, they confirmed that honey does indeed make a
decent sore throat remedy, even as a treatment for strep throat, caused by
Streptococci bacteria. Indeed, they showed in the absence of saliva
altogether, honey was drastically more effective than Dequadin and Strepsils at
killing the bacteria that cause strep throat. With saliva present, it was
just as effective as Dequadin and two and a half times more effective than
Strepsils.
§
As mentioned, honey’s antibiotic capabilities are based
partially on which type of plant the nectar was harvested from. On the
flip-side, there are plants that bees can make honey from that will make you
sick, sometimes fatally. For instance, honey made from rhododendrons can cause
dizziness, weakness, excessive perspiration, nausea and vomiting shortly after
you ingest it. In rare cases, a person can show symptoms including low blood pressure;
low heart rates; and lethal heart rhythms, mimicking Wolff-Parkinson-White
syndrome. It can also create first, second, and third degree heart
blocks. The cause of the illness is the grayanotoxin present in the
rhododendron.
§
Honey’s potential to help with a worldwide decrease in medical
expenses is huge (which is why very little research has been done on it until
recently; no profit in it for the pharmaceutical companies). Currently, chronic
wounds account for up to 4% of health care expenses worldwide.
http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/03/honey-can-be-used-for-a-variety-of-medicinal-purposes/
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